Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
These are the best pumpkin cheesecake cookies! They are super chewy pumpkin cookies, stuffed with creamy cheesecake filling and rolled in pumpkin spice sugar. They’re the perfect fall treat and every pumpkin lover will adore them!
If you’re looking for other pumpkin desserts, try my OG chewy pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cold foam, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bundt cake or pumpkin blondies!
Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
They have the best texture– These cookies are super chewy and not at all fluffy pumpkin cookies. Pumpkin is hard to get right in cookies because it adds so much moisture to baked goods, but by drying it before adding it to the dough, the cookies keep their perfect chewy texture.
They have a creamy cheesecake layer– The centers are stuffed full of delicious, sweetened cream cheese. It’s the best part about these cookies!
They have the perfect amount of pumpkin spice. The dough is flavored with the perfect amount of pumpkin pie spice and then is rolled in spiced sugar before baking. Each bite will taste like fall!
Ingredients for Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
- Unsalted Butter– make sure it’s softened, room temperature butter
- Light Brown Sugar– we’re using only brown sugar in the pumpkin cookie dough to keep these cookies extra chewy
- Egg Yolks– make sure they’re room temperature
- Vanilla– as always I recommend vanilla bean paste for the best flavor, but vanilla extract will work perfectly fine as well
- Canned Pumpkin Puree– I highly recommend using Libby’s canned pumpkin. It’s the best pumpkin to use because almost all cans of it I’ve used have had the same consistency and are not too wet.
- Flour– just the right amount of all purpose flour helps give these cookies their perfect texture
- Pumpkin Pie Spice– a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves is used to bring warm fall flavors to these cookies
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder– equal parts are used to just slightly leaven these cookies
- Salt– brings out all the flavors in these cookies
- Granulated White Sugar– used for the cheesecake filling and spiced sugar
- Cream Cheese– used to make the delicious cream cheese filling
Step by Step Instructions
Please see the recipe card below for the complete recipe, including measurements and baking time!
STEP ONE: Add the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla to a small bowl. Mix on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy and the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Scoop the cheesecake filling into 16, 2 tsp portions onto a small parchment paper lined baking sheet. Freeze the cheesecake balls until they are frozen and very firm.
STEP TWO: Then dry your pumpkin to get rid of excess moisture. This may seem weird but it is the only way these cookies will bake properly and not turn out cakey! Spread your pumpkin on a plate and place paper towels over the top. Lightly press to absorb the liquid. Repeat the step at least four more times until hardly any liquid transfers to the paper towel. (It needs to reduce down to just under 1/4 cup from 1/2 cup). Then set aside.
STEP THREE: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.
STEP FOUR: In a large bowl cream the softened butter and brown sugar together with an electric hand mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
STEP FIVE: Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
STEP SIX: Add in the pumpkin and combine on medium speed.
STEP SEVEN: Add in the dry ingredients and combine on low speed.
STEP SEVEN: Scoop the dough into 16 portions with a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, then roll into balls. Slightly flatten out each then place the frozen cheesecake ball in the center. Then close the cheesecake ball in with the cookie dough and roll into a ball again. Make sure the cheesecake is completely covered in cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough balls in pumpkin spice sugar.
STEP EIGHT: Transfer the cookie dough to a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 6 cookies at a time. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Then serve!
FAQs
The number one reason this could happen is because not enough moisture was removed from the pumpkin. It absolutely has to be pressed with paper towels prior to being added to the batter or the cookies will not bake properly. Wet cookie dough equals cakey cookies. The pumpkin should be dry enough that it goes from being 1/2 cup dried down to just under a 1/4 cup. Hardly any liquid should transfer onto a paper towel once it has been dried enough. Like stated above, try to use Libby’s canned pumpkin as almost all cans of it have the same consistency and are not too wet. Other brands of pumpkin can be really soupy in my opinion.
I would say no because fresh pumpkin puree tends to be even more liquidy than canned. It may cause the cookies to bake incorrectly.
Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze them for up to two weeks!
Pro Tips
For best results, measure your flour properly. This is always my #1 baking tip. Do not ever scoop a measuring cup into your flour. This will always lead to using too much flour. Instead, sprinkle spoonfuls of flour into your measuring cup and swipe excess flour off with the back of a knife. Or better yet, weigh your flour. 1 cup of flour equals 125 grams.
Make sure to completely freeze the cheesecake balls. This will ensure no cheesecake filling leaks out of the cookies while baking. Keep the cheesecake balls in the freezer just until you’re ready to use for each batch of cookies.
Let the cookies cool completely before eating. This will allow the cheesecake filling to firm up and not be runny.
When the cookies are straight out of the oven, scoot a large circular cookie cutter around them to give them a perfect circular shape!
Make sure to beat your eggs into the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale in color and fluffy, not just until it’s combined. Doing this will help give you perfectly textured cookies.
If you make these cookies please leave a star review! Also, tag me on Instagram @inbloombakery_ so I can see your creation! Follow me on Pinterest for other dessert ideas!
Other Recipes to Try
Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cheesecake Filling
- 6 oz (170 g) cream cheese, cold
- 3 tbsp (38 g) granulated white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
For the Spiced Sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
For the Pumpkin Cookies
- 1/2 cup (122 g) canned pumpkin puree, Libby's
- 1 3/4 cups (219 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (168 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar
- 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
For the Cheesecake Filling
- Line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla to a small bowl. Mix on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy and the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes.6 oz (170 g) cream cheese, cold, 3 tbsp (38 g) granulated white sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla
- Scoop the cheesecake filling into 16, 2 tsp portions onto the baking sheet. (There will be a little bit left over in the bowl.)
- Pop the cheesecake balls into the freezer until they are frozen and very firm.
For the Spiced Sugar
- Add the sugar and pumpkin pie spice to a small bowl. Whisk to combine then set aside.1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar, 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
For the Pumpkin Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dry your pumpkin to get rid of excess moisture. This may seem weird but it is the only way these cookies will bake properly and not turn out cakey! Spread your pumpkin on a plate and place paper towels over the top. Lightly press to absorb the liquid. Repeat the step at least four more times until hardly any liquid transfers to the paper towel. (It needs to reduce down to just under 1/4 cup from 1/2 cup). Then set aside.1/2 cup (122 g) canned pumpkin puree
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then set aside the flour mixture.1 3/4 cups (219 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- In a large bowl cream the softened butter and brown sugar together with an electric hand mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.3/4 cup (168 g) unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar
- Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and mix for one minute on medium speed until pale and fluffy.2 egg yolks, at room temperature, 2 tsp vanilla
- Add in the dried pumpkin and combine on medium speed.
- Add in the dry ingredients and combine on low speed.
- Scoop the dough into 16 portions with a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, then roll into balls. Slightly flatten out each then place a frozen cheesecake ball in the center. Then close the cheesecake ball in with the cookie dough and roll into a ball again. Make sure the cheesecake is completely covered in cookie dough. Roll the cookie dough balls in pumpkin spice sugar. (Keep the cheesecake balls in the freezer until ready to use for each batch of cookies.)
- Transfer the cookie dough balls to the prepared baking sheet. Bake 6 cookies at a time for 12-13 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Then serve!
My husband and I Love These!!!!! Absolutely worth the bit of work that goes into them 🙂
Wanted to ask, do you refrigerate them?
I’ve made this recipie two times, and about to do a 3rd one. they are my favorite foreveeer! i really love your page, it has helped me so many times with delicious desserts and now my family is always asking for more recipies! A really good job. you’re my favorite recipie account ever!!
Greetings all the way from Mexico!
Hello! Your comment brought a big smile to my face! I am so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe!! Thank you so much for making my recipes. I’m so happy you and your family liked the cookies.
I’m not sure why but my batter came out very wet. Do I just add more flour?
If the batter is too wet it’s most likely because the pumpkin was not dried enough. Please see the photos above for reference as to how dry the pumpkin needs to be.
These cookies were so good! i am a pumpkin lover and i think they can be eaten any time of the year not just fall!! they came out a bit fluffier than the pictures, maybe i didn’t dry the pumpkin enough. nonetheless they were amazing and i’d love to make them again sometime. definitely try these! ?
Literally fall in a ball! The cookie mix tasted amazing and the entire family enjoyed them! Thanks for the recipe!
How do store them? I know I will have to make multiple batches if they are half as good as they are saying here. I know I will love them, nothing in them not to like!
Hi Nance! Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze them for up to two weeks!
Omg. I just made these (literally ten minutes ago, lol) and they are DIVINE. I am so impressed at how easy you made the recipe to follow. I hope you put out a cookie cookbook or something of the sort soon!! Would buy in a heartbeat 🙂
Hi Rach! I’m SO happy you liked them!! Thanks for trying them out! 🙂
These cookies are dangerous they are so delicious. My mom and I just downed the first batch of 6. Oops! The directions and pictures are great. I can’t wait to make them for my sister!
Just made these for the second time. We are gluten free so I subbed the flour for Bobs Red Mill 1:1 GF flour, they are delicious! My daughter said “you seriously put magic into these cookies.”
I found In Bloom on Instagram last year and decided to try these cookies out because they looked absolutely amazing! I’ve made them a few times last fall and I have gotten many compliments about these cookies! I’m making them this fall again many times because they truly look and taste amazing! They’re also fun to make! I rate these cookies a 12/10! I need to try the lemon cheesecake and Oreo cheesecake cookies next!
Hi! Just curious why do we use softened butter instead of browned butter? If i use browned butter instead will i get denser, chewier cookies?
Hi Clarissa. I have not tested this recipe with brown butter. I don’t know that it would make them chewier. They are already very chewy cookies. If you try it with brown butter let us know how it went!
I’ve never seen someone leave the specific measurements under each instruction. You’re an angel!
Can these be made into larger cookies? If so how could
I adjust the bake time
Do you know what adjustments need to be made to these cookies for high altitude. They look delicious and would really like to try them. Thanks!
Hello! Thank you for the recipe! I was just wondering why my cookies may came out a little fluffy and cakey? Your picture looks like the cookies are flatter and more dense.
My cookies went soggy the next day. I put them in a bag to store and in the morning were super soggy where the cream cheese was. Any way to prevent that?
Maybe store them in the refrigerator?
Absolutely love these cookies, I had to put them in the freezer so we wouldn’t eat the whole batch.
I have a similar question as Paige, my cookies are also cakey and fluffy (not that it’s a bad thing), how are yours more dense? I do live near the water in the Pacific North West, are you at a higher altitude/dryer area?
And how do you get the cream cheese to spread out? I freeze the cheese like you suggest but the cookie dough spreads out and the cheese stays more in the center. Its still good but I think it would be better with the cheese not being a bit of a lump in the middle. The same thing happens when I make the Lemon cheese cookies.
Amazing! Very thorough and easy to follow recipe. Cookies turned out so good!! Love this recipe. I look forward to trying many more inbloombakery treats this season!
Made these cookies for my family this week and they were a huge hit! Everyone loved them. So soft and delicious. Recipe and instructions were super easy to follow.
These cookies look amazing, I am going to make them tonight! I only have salted butter though- will they still turn out? Should I omit the salt in the recipe?
Delicious recipe!!!!
These cookies are so tasty. I was surprised that taking the liquid out of the pumpkin was a lot easier than I imagined. I thought it would be very messy. But it worked out really well. I found that the dough was a bit easier to roll when a bit chilled first – and this meant that I needed to bake it for a tiny bit longer. Otherwise I made them as directed and they are amazing! Thank you for sharing.
These cookies got a lot of varying reviews from my family. The taste of the cookie was great, but there were a ton of little problems that I ran into with the recipe. First, despite drying out the pumpkin, I got a super fluffy, moist, cakey batter. There was absolutely no way to wrap it around a frozen cheesecake ball! I ended up getting a scoop of dough/batter, pressing the ball in, and trying to spread the dough over the cheesecake as best as possible before dumping it into the sugar. Since the dough was so moist, it sucked up about 2-3 times the amount of cinnamon sugar call for in the recipe! Once I baked them, the dough would spread out, but the cheesecake wouldn’t, leaving a small bit of cookie with both components and quite a bit without. Also, as soon as the cookies would come out of the oven, they would be puffy and beautiful, but they would fall and crack terribly as they cooled. The bottoms also got kinda soggy from the cheesecake. Overall, I’m not sure the cookies are worth the work. They tasted all right, but you sort off had to close your eyes and ignore how ugly they were. Disappointing.
I’m not one to leave reviews, but these were a hit. Was planning on bringing them to work, but they were all gone in 5 minutes. I’ll be making another batch! I’ve been getting texts all night about how good they are
These cookies were delightful! I kept going back for more! They were soft and fluffy and the cream cheese was so nicely flavored, when combined together they were perfect. I will be adding this to my seasonal recipes for sure!
Yet another fantastic recipe from In Bloom Bakery! I’m not a huge fan of cheesecake, but when my boyfriend requested these as a fall dessert I decided to give them a shot. Even with my dislike for cheesecake, these cookies are DIVINE and I can’t stop eating them!! This recipe may make me a cheesecake fan, after all! Thank you so much for sharing, I LOVE this recipe!
I was a little apprehensive after reading the reviews and seeing a handful of people having issues with an overly moist/generally off texture, the cheesecake not spreading, and gooey-ness on the following day. I live in a very, very humid climate, so typically any moist foods become soggy extra quickly. You can understand why I was nervous. I’m happy to say I didn’t encounter any of these issues! I believe some secrets to my success were:
– It’s very important to remember to allow your eggs and butter to come to room temp before working with them. This ensures you don’t get a weird cake texture. Also, be careful not to overmix your dry ingredients with your wet. You really want to just add the dry to the wet and mix until you no longer see bits of dry ingredient, on LOW speed. Stop mixing a little earlier than you think you should and gently mix with a rubber spatula if you see any loose dry ingredient. Both of these techniques (room temp butter/eggs and mixing in dry ingredients just a little bit) are seldom talked about, but are the standard for most baking recipes to ensure you get the correct texture. If you didn’t know this, start doing it with ALL of your baked goods!!
– Follow that step with drying the pumpkin carefully. I ended up needing to use 20 towels to reduce my pumpkin from 1/2 to 1/4 cup(!), but I think this was imperative to ensuring the dough was dry enough to work with as the dough was still very sticky despite the drying. The cookies themselves are still very moist and chewy, so I could only imagine how nasty and gloopy they would be without following this step!
– I also recommend rolling the dough balls and putting them in the fridge (5-10 minutes) before assembling the cheesecake center and baking, this made the dough MUCH easier to work with. I didn’t need to bake any longer as by the time I’d handled the dough and assembled everything they were room temp again.
– I’ve been storing these cookies in the fridge because of the cheesecake and have not experienced any issues with gooeyness on day 2. I believe some of the issues people are having with odd texture on subsequent days may be because of this. Cheesecake isn’t really meant to be kept out, so be sure to store it properly!
Cookies were super good! Everyone loved them and asked for another, but one problem is that the cookies did not spread/flatten out in the oven.
These cookies are DIVINE. I doubled the recipe but otherwise followed it to a T, had no issues besides some doming when they came out of the oven (flattened them down with a spatula while they were still warm). Mine took a bit longer to bake, about 15 mins. They are absolutely delicious—the cream cheese is a great balance for the sweetness. Perfect fall treat!
Absolutely obsessed! Made them for my boyfriend to take to work for “homemade cookie day” but had to eat a few myself first!! Forgot to roll them in the sugar but decided that they were perfectly sweet without it. Will definitely be making these again!! (Also LOVE the measurements under each step!)
These cookies are absolutely amazing! Would definitely recommend ??
My filling is dissolving ? any recommendations? Other than that, they’re delicious
Thank you for this recipe! Having the measurements under the instructions was fantastic. Unfortunately, my cookies turned out quite cakey and raised, not flat and chewy 🙁 I made sure to thoroughly dry the pumpkin and the dough wasn’t wet at all so not sure where I went wrong
The cookies are delish. A little more steps thar I’m used to but worth it. Next time I am going to make the filling; then bake the cookies half the size, cool and sandwich 2 cookies on the filling (like an oreo) I think it’ll be a little less messy thar way!
These are so good! I’m on my second batch this week. I did put the first batch of dough in the fridge overnight because I ran out of time to bake them, and I think it really improved the flavor.
This time I’m going to use softened cream cheese to make the filling, and then pipe it onto a cookie sheet to freeze. I’m also doubling the batch of cookie dough because I only got 12 or so cookies the first time.
Like others have said, make sure you refrigerate leftover cookies!
Made this recipe twice. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. The second time, I refrigerated the dough first. There was a dramatic taste and texture difference with the second batch!! The cookies were chewier, more dense, the cream cheese layer was thicker and tangier and the dough just tasted better.
They are delicious, perfect for fall. And they go really well with coffee. I only gave it a four star because I personally didn’t like the cheesecake filling but they would’ve been a 10/10 without the filling, the cookie part by itself is so much better than with the cheesecake filling
Delicious!!! Just one question. What’s the best way to store?
These cookies were delicious! And this is coming from someone that doesn’t really like pumpkin flavored things! I will be making these again for sure!
Delicious! Drying the pumpkin purée was definitely weird, but worth it!
These were AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing! They turned out absolutely perfect. I’m just wondering how the cream cheese will keep at room temp for 3 days? Is it the sugar keeping it from spoiling?Will the cookies dry out if refrigerated?
I’ve never left a bad recipe review ever, but this was a waste of my time, ingredients, and money!
Wasted amounts after every step
Dough was so sticky I couldn’t form into balls
A complete disgrace, don’t waste your time. Def DO NOT do with kids!
This is the most annoying recipe because of all the pop up advertisements . It’s a complicated recipe and the distractions are the worst!!
The advertisements are how I keep my recipes free for anyone on the internet to have access to. You can always print the recipe out if you would like!
These were great, I had to work fast with the cheescake filling. I guess I didn’t let it freeze enough so it started getting soft when I was making the cookies into balls. Other than that not too difficult.
These are in the oven and the dough was delicious. I wanted to say thank you for the way you wrote the recipe to include measurements with each step. Brilliant!
These are very tasty and the cream cheese adds an unexpected twist. A couple of notes for others:
* I found the grams to ounces weren’t always identical (the ounces of butter didn’t match the grams, it was less, so I used grams as a measure in all cases).
* I was scared about comments of the cream cheese ball not melting in the oven, so I did take them all out when I started the dough, to give them a chance to warm up a bit.
* The dough is VERY sticky (almost like gingerbread) so I greased my hands with PAM to mold around the cream cheese ball. And I greased the melon baller. It actually made it easier because it almost works like a batter molding it around. But very sticky. I also used my judgement and pinched away some cream cheese ball if I thought it was too much.
* I doubled the amount of spice sugar, because rolling the balls in it made it easier to work with so I used a lot.
They turned out great!
Oh yes these are pretty darn good and easy! We live at altitude and I didn’t adjust a single thing. I made my own pumpkin pie spice though. I did leave the dough balls in the fridge for prob 10 minutes prior to baking and then pushed them down a bit after they came out of the oven, as mine were on the puffy side. Super great!!! I am going to have to check out more of your yummy recipes. I’d love to post a pic but I don’t think I can.
Thanks again for the recipe!
Hello there! I’m about to make this recipe for a potluck this week, so how do I store them for the next day if I make them the day before?
I made your cookies successfully last night. The most exciting part was experiencing the cheesecake filling! I am excited I finally know how to do this thanks to you! The texture was good along with the spices. However the pumpkin flavor becomes a bit lost in translation for me as 1/4 cup of pumpkin is competing with 3 1/2 cups of other ingredients. Although I found baking these to be therapeutic and enjoyable I am unsure if I would make them again due to what I’ve mentioned. I have a ginger snap recipe which is absolutely excellent and its flavor I feel beats this one. I will now want to try it with the cheesecake filling in lieu of the cream cheese frosting I normally use. Thank you kindly for the experience of using your recipe!
Would probably be great if you could actually see the recipe but the pop ups are so constant and frustrating that I can’t do it.